Can You Keep A Secret? Chapter 10: Breakout, a gakuen alice fanfic

I've written a oneshot about Nobara and Natsume's past for those of you who want to know. It's partially related to the story, and I published it the same time I published this chapter of Can You Keep A Secret?. So if you're wondering why it took me time to update, well, it's because of the oneshot. So there. XD A lot of things are going to happen and revealed in this chapter and even if things take turn for the worst, don't EVER forget that there are more chapters to follow and don't forget to stay tune!

Thank you for feeding me, greentulip, keaRy anCe, Blissful Delight, chainedheart999, '-MiNi-RAi-', chello-chan, Night's Warrior, l3vA, Smori, JuSt To RaNdOm, rosie, -Tribal Addict- (That's okay! I completely understand. XD Thanks for the review! And say hello to her for me, please. :), Cutenatsumexmikan, brokenpromises04, technicolor_ruby, Ayama Mitsuki, redsakuanbo, Freak-show101, dragonslay, huyutfsakura.

Can You Keep A Secret?
Aminatsu032

I couldn't believe what I saw he was doing. And from the looks of it, this was what they both wanted…and I was the one interfering with what they had. It hurt, the way I realized that everything that happened was part of the pretending after all and that I was stupid, wanting more than what we already had.

I could feel heat through my eyes, and I was ninety-nine percent sure it was not because of the tears wanting to be released. By now, I felt everything was spinning around me and that my whole body was giving up of all that happened the past three days. I felt pain inside and out.

I slowly took steps backward and forced myself to just let go before I do something really stupid. I panted heavily, feeling more and more tired by the second. It took everything I had to finally run for it – my guts, my strength, my dignity. Somewhere in the pain I realized what I wanted more than anything at this moment…that was to leave everything behind me as I ran and forget about everything as I do so.

X: BREAKOUT

I looked at the brunette staring at me. I couldn't recognize her – I didn't know her. She wore a short olive chiffon dress and had long, flowing chestnut-brown hair. I swept my hand on my hair and she mimicked the exact movement. I knew the girl in the mirror was me, but I couldn't take it in. It was mainly because I looked – probably for the first time – beautiful.

"Well, you certainly look different."

I shifted my gaze at the raven-haired girl whose lavender eyes looked at mine through the mirror. Hotaru wore a long, peach silk dress and a pair of white long gloves. I looked at my reflection again and said nothing.

"Normally, you have your hair pulled up in a pigtail," Hotaru noted, rolling her eyes slightly, "and I'm not very accustomed to seeing you looking mature."

I pursed my lips, thinking of something to say, but all I could think of was, "Thanks."

Hotaru subtly sighed and slowly walked beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder, looking eye-to-eye with my reflection in the mirror. "Do you know what's missing, now?" she asked.

I thought about what she said for a while, but my brain was still throbbing in pain and I couldn't think very clearly. I frowned slightly and shook my head.

Hotaru's expression softened. "Smile."

It took me about a minute to let the word sink in. I mean, what was I doing? I was pondering on something so hard and I forgot that there are still good things that can come. And you had to live like the world was going to end the next day to live your life the fullest.

I smiled, finally and I could now see the amplified beauty of the brunette in the mirror.

Hotaru patted my back twice before turning to go. "You better hurry up," she said before leaving, "there are lots of guests waiting."

I nodded at her and took my purse as I followed her towards the ballroom. The moment the door opened, I saw flashes of light everywhere. It was coming on all directions and it was all coming to me. I closed my eyes slightly to keep out the blinding flashes and the sudden dizziness that was coming to me. I almost expected I would loose my balance when a firm grip on my back held me standing.

"About time," Natsume whispered to my ear.

I felt blood rush to my cheeks. I almost forgot how it felt like to have him so close to me and holding me tight. Almost.

"Sakura Mikan! How did you come this far from being just being a farm girl?"

The question suddenly aroused my attention. "What? I wasn't a farm g –"

But before I could finish, Natsume cut me off. "We'll be answering questions later," he said, pulling me out of the crowd and into the stage where Igarashi Kaoru was waiting, poised as elegant as she always was.

She nodded at me before finally calling to everyone's attention. "As of this moment," Kaoru said, looking from left to right. "The engagement party between my son, Hyuuga Natsume and his bride-to-be, Sakura Mikan, officially starts."

And at that moment the ballroom was filled with cheers and applaud as Natsume and I descended down the stairs.

"Stay close to me and don't engage with long conversations with anyone," he told me as I nodded.

"Natsume," I called. I really didn't have anything to say. I just wanted to call out his name for the sake of it.

Natsume looked at me, eyes bored. "What?" he asked.

I smiled and shook my head. "Nothing," I told him. "Nevermind."

Natsume looked into my eyes for a moment as if searching if I was really telling the truth. After a while, he looked away, ready to charge into the crowd that, as far as I could see, were itching to get the dirt out of the two of us.

"One more thing," Natsume paused. "If you're feeling tired, just tell me."

I smiled again and nodded. I missed Natsume – more than anyone could imagine. And now, as we walked near each other and as he held my hand, I'd forgotten all the frustrations I've had with him and it was like it was part of a dream and it never happened.

I inhaled and prepared myself when one middle-aged man in a black tailored suit walked towards us, holding a glass of white wine. "Ah, Mr. Hyuuga!" he greeted cheerfully, extending both his hands on his sides in acknowledgement. "One of the youngest company leaders in the world – what honor!"

"It's also an honor meeting you, Mister Takehara," Natsume said, bowing slightly.

The man laughed and looked at me, smiling. "I believe we haven't met before," he said.

"Ah, yes," I began as I bowed in respect. "I'm Sakura Mikan."

"Well I doubt anyone in this room does not know who you are," Mr. Takehara said jokingly. As much as I felt it was proper to introduce myself, I thought it was kind of stupid that I have to repeat the same sentence over and over again.

The man extended his free hand towards me. "I'm Takehara Keichi, founder and owner of Antarta Industries Incorporated."

I took his hand and shook it. "Yes, I've heard about your successful business," I told him, smiling.

Mr. Takehara laughed. "Well, who hasn't?" – he paused and looked at Natsume for a moment, then back to me – "It would've been the number one company in Japan if it wasn't for this young man over here," he noted as he gestured towards Natsume. From his tone, it would've sounded as if he was completely joking with his statement, but something about his expression made me think otherwise.

Natsume smiled for a fraction of a second, but I could tell the smile was fake. I knew Natsume. He didn't smile. He absolutely, positively, undoubtedly didn't smile.

"Well, if you'll excuse us," he said, wrapping a secure arm around my waist and starting to walk towards the opposite direction.

"How are you feeling?" Natsume asked, eying one of the guests who was deliberately looking back and forth another direction and ours, obviously wanting to have a small chat.

I sighed and smiled at him. "I'm fine."

Natsume nodded as he greeted a tall, slim woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties. I closed my eyes and silently prayed to God, because by the looks of her, she seemed like she was one of those obnoxious semi-old women who mock others to feel better about themselves. Oh, please, God, please don't let her be what I imagined - PLEASE!

The woman raised one of her eyebrows and smiled crookedly. "Well, it's a pleasure finally meeting you in person, Hyuuga Natsume," she said in a confident, alto tone. When Natsume nodded, she looked at me from head to toe before finally saying, "You, too, soon to be Hyuuga."

I tried to force a smile. It looked like the heaven failed me - she was one of those make-fun-of-others-because-I-am-an-old-hag type. "It's a pleasure to meet you," I introduced myself. "I'm Sakura Mikan."

She laughed, as if I missed a private joke. "Yes, you are," she paused before finally extending a hand towards me. "I am Sawako Hime of Evermore Beauty Cosmetics. A pleasure to meet you."

I continued smiling at her as I took her hand. "The pleasure is all mine."

She returned the smile, still inspecting my overall appearance. Finally, she looked over to Natsume who seemed to be pretty bored with the events that had been happening. "How very unexpected from you to pick a fiancee from very unexpected roots."

My eyes almost bulged in shock with her statement. WHAT THE FREAKING HELL WAS THIS WITCH IMPLYING?!

If I wasn't in control of myself, I would've ripped the dress of off me and charged into her face like a mad bull charging at a blood-red cloth. Well, come to think of it, she was wearing red. I mean, I can just chop her head off and pretend like nothing happened, right? RIGHT? But I knew better than that. I knew better than releasing the craziness that rested in my very being. So I kept my mouth shut.

I half-expected Natsume to just laugh and excuse us both from the conversation and almost fainted in shock when I heard what he said next.

"You don't measure a quality of a being from where it began," Natsume said with a straight face. "And sometimes, being unexpected is good, because stereotype people are often left behind by other people who seek change."

I could see the transformation from Hime-hag's face when Natsume said that. Now, she was no longer fake-smiling like she was previously doing.

When Natsume finally excused us both, I couldn't help but giggle. "She seemed taken aback by your answer," I commented, slyly looking at her dazed expression beyond my shoulder.

Natsume smirked. "Well, people become particularly touchy when they've undergone divorce."

I suddenly found myself smiling. Somehow, I missed Natsume's smirks. I didn't get the chance to see them the last few days because of the clash were were having.

"She's had a divorce?" I asked. "But she seems so young."

"The marriage was only valid for about half a year," Natsume explained. "That's why she established a business – to keep her mind busy from the drama."

I opened my mouth to say something, when the ballroom suddenly started spinning. I was about to stumble and fall, when Natsume tightened his hold on me.

"Why don't you go sit down?" he said, leading me to a nearby table.

"No, I can manage," I pressed, refusing to take a seat.

Natsume sighed at my stubbornness. "If you collapse in the middle of the party, it would cause much greater commotion," he said with a serious expression. "Now sit down and let me do the talking."

I bit my lower lip, but finally gave in and nodded.

Natsume gave me a final kiss on top of my head before finally disappearing into the crowd.

When I finally caught no sight of Natsume, I sighed and closed my eyes. Yes, my fever has gone down when I rested, but now I felt like it's gone up again and that I was worse. Much, much, much worse than before.

I was about to put my head down when I felt a tug down my dress. I opened my eyes and sat erect, only to find a pair of obsidian eyes looking straight at mine. A smile crept up my lips when I recognized who it was.

"Youichi," I said, as he looked at me with bored eyes.

"What are you doing, just sitting around?" he asked, flat and emotionless.

I decided to ignore his question. "What are you doing here?" I asked him, laughing lightly.

Youichi stuck a finger unto his ear and scratched it, before replying. "Meh. I had to. My mom insisted."

I raised my eyebrow. "Your mom was invited?" I asked, thinking it was such a small world and I was able to meet him again.

Youichi looked away. "Yeah," he answered. "Natsume-nii-san's mom and my mom apparently attended high school together, so…" he trailed off.

"Well, it's good to see you again," I said, smiling. "I'd love to talk to Mrs. Hijiri."

I half-expected he'd call his mother right away and I'd have a conversation going, so I was kind of surprised when Youichi remained standing in front of my chair, staring at me. After a while, he finally looked away. "I'd rather not," he said.

"Eh?" I said, surprised at his statement.

"You look like you need some time out. The old hag probably has nothing to say, anyway," he said, folding his sleeves slowly as he talked.

I had nothing else to say to him. I just smiled. The boy really reminded me of Natsume and how they were so much alike. The way You-chan said "old hag" to describe his mother was a dead giveaway on how they were alike. Well, it was rude to call anyone that, but despite the hard posterior, both You-chan and Natsume had a soft side. And You-chan was showing it right now.

"Youichi-kun," I heard a voice call from behind me.

Youichi cringed at the voice and looked away, pretending not to hear.

"I know you heard me." The voice sounded closer this time. It was moments after that a tall lady in a midnight-blue gown crouched down to take Youichi's hand. I recognized her as Youichi's mother.

Mrs. Hijiri was about to walk away with her son, when she finally realized my presence. "O-oh," she said, surprised, when she saw me.

"S-Sakura Mikan, is it not?" she asked politely, letting go of Youichi who rolled his eyes.

I smiled at her. "Yes," I said. "I believe we have met already?"

Mrs. Hijiri stood straight as she extended one hand towards me. "I am Hijiri Megumi," she introduced. "Congratulations on your engagement."

I smiled again and took her hand.

"I hope Youichi-kun here wasn't much of a bother," she said, glancing at her son. "He kept on telling me he'd come along so he could see you again."

I looked at Youichi, grinning. When he caught my expression, he blushed and looked away.

"Come on, Mom. Let's go," Youichi mumbled, embarrassed at his mother's revalation.

Both took a few steps away, when Youichi turned around to stick his tongue at me. "I just want you to know that I only insisted on coming to tell you how ugly you looked in that dress," he said.

A vein popped in my head. HE AND NATSUME ARE SOME MUCH ALIKE!

I was about to yell back at You-chan when somebody placed a glass of cold water at the table and handed over a tablet. I looked up to find out it was Natsume.

"Drink this," he said; I followed.

"Thank you," I mumbled, as I placed the glass back at the table.

For a moment, I caught Natsume stare at the departing figure of You-chan and his mother.

"That was the kind from the park, right?" he recalled.

I nodded. "Yes. I mean, can you believe it? He called me UGLY in this dress – "

"You don't."

Alright. I was cut off. I was abruptly cut off by Natsume while I was saying how Youichi said I looked ugly in the dress and he cut me off by saying I didn't.

I quickly looked up at Natsume. "What was that?"

Natsume narrowed his ruby eyes at me and looked away. "I'm going," he said flatly.

"H-hey, wait!" I called; he turned around.

"What?"

I smiled. "Let me come with you," I told him.

Natsume rolled his eyes. "No way."

I pressed my hands together. "Please," I begged. "I can manage – " Natsume opened his mouth to say something, but I held up my hand to stop him. " – and I promise – I mean PROMISE – to tell you if I feel bad again, okay?"

Natsume kept silent for a minute, as if debating on whether he'd let me rest or to come with him. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. "Only if you promise to tell me," he finally said.

I grinned and stood up. "Promise."

.xx.

After hours of talking to the guests and the media, I felt like my body couldn't take it anymore. There were practically no more people at the mansion because it was two o'clock in the morning and the guests had already drove back to their houses.

I had gone to the washroom to fix myself when I heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Replacement."

I narrowed my eyes at her reflection in the mirror. "Permy," I said, acknowledging her presence.

She rolled her eyes at my remark. "Loser."

I rolled my eyes back. "I didn't see you at the party," I told her, in attempt to avoid the name-calling.

Shouda Sumire took steps forward to stand beside me. She was wearing an elegant attire, so I presumed she was at the party, too. "Hmpf. I was hiding my shame after being publicly embarrassed at our previous gathering."

I sighed. "Look, I – "

Sumire held up a hand to stop me from talking. "Stop," she said; her voice high and demanding. "I assume you already know about me returning home."

I nodded as I waited for her to continue.

"And I want you to know, that I don't plan to forfeit just yet," she said, smiling evilly.

I rolled my eyes at her determination.

Sumire crossed her arms. "And that I'm only returning home so that when I come back I'd be much, much stronger and that I'll be able to beat you."

I sighed again. "Look, Permy – "

Sumire cut in again and I almost yelled at her for doing it again when I realized what she was trying to say. "You've always been better than me," she said in a soft tone, "when we were little – at school, at sports – at everything! And you know what hurts the most? Even when I try and try and try to be better than you, I always get the same freaking remark from everyone around me.

"You should be more like Mikan!" or

"Mikan-chan is such a good person! Why can't she be our daughter!"

"It was always, always very," – Sumire paused, as if looking for the right word, "…depressing," she said in almost a whisper.

"That's why I always picked on you," she continued. "Flirted with every boy you liked, tried to steal your friends – but no matter how much I tried to bring you down, you always manage to pull yourself above me again. It made me feel so inferior.

"And when you left, my family's business became so popular and I got myself engaged to the president of, what, only one the most prestigious company in the entire world?" Sumire looked at me, as if examining if I was listening closely. I looked away, because I kind of felt bad and guilty with what she has been shooting at me.

"I thought," Sumire said, "I thought I finally beat you this time. I was vice president, for God's sake, and I wanted so much to rub it in to you! And then, just my luck! You suddenly show up like a rat looking for his cheese!

"Everything was going so well. I really, really thought I beat you. And there came that stupid announcement," her voice trailed off.

"Look, Sumire – " I began, attempting to apologize.

She cut me off again. "Don't even try to say sorry, because that won't change anything," she said, reading my mind. "I hate you, you hate me, yadda-yadda – well, you know what? Wait for my return. And I swear I'm gonna beat you."

Surprisingly, a smile crept up my lips as I reached for her and embraced her.

I felt Sumire's body stiffen as she pushed me off, with a shocked face.

I laughed at her expression. "I'm gonna wait for you," I assured her, grinning. "So, you better be stronger, because I'll be prepared."

Sumire rolled her green eyes. "Well, you better be!"

For a moment, Sumire smiled as she walked away. I stared at her, when she suddenly turned around to say something else.

"One more thing," she added, smiling crookedly. "That Nobara-chick, be careful. She might be a hundred times better than me."

I rolled my eyes. "If you say so."

Sumire turned around again. "I said 'might'. I didn't say she was."

Moments after Sumire left, I decided to hit the hay and take a rest, so I headed to my room in Kaoru's mansion. She gave it to me in case I stayed for the night, and I must say it was very convenient – especially in moments like this where I needed sleep.

I twisted the knob, only to find it locked.

I groaned aloud and headed back to the ballroom. I figured Natsume probably has the key with him, since he took the medicine from the room a while ago.

I pushed the two ballroom doors apart as I quietly called out his name.

"Natsume?" I said. "Natsume, are you here?"

Hearing no answer, I decided to look for him myself. After seeing no one, I finally decided to look for him some other place when I saw somebody sitting at the garden outside. I approached, and was about to call out when I noticed the person was with another.

I crept closer, only to find Natsume and Nobara, with Natsume's lips pressed on hers.

My eyes widened in shock – this was no imagination, what I saw! Even if I was feeling dizzy and sleepy, I was a hundred percent sure that Natsume was kissing Nobara.

I abruptly pushed the doors apart again, as it creaked loudly. I didn't care now, if anybody heard me or saw me. I just wanted to breakout from everything. This "once upon a time I had my happily-ever-after".

I ran and ran and ran, out of the ballroom, out of the main gate, out of Igarashi Kaoru's mansion and dared not to stop. I ignored the throbbing in my head and the aching of my feet and dashed across the houses I ran past and all the cars honking when I came by.

When I was certain that I was away, I finally stopped and looked at the sky. There were no stars, meaning it was going to rain. I wiped my tears away. It was time I woke up from the truth. He was not my Prince Charming and I was not Cinderella – I don't even know who I am!

I started to walk again at the side walk, slowly this time and I didn't stop. Lights were passing by as I was passing by them. I never really noticed Tokyo's night life, until now. But I knew very well that pretty lights couldn't make me feel better.

I panted heavily, but I continued walking, until my body couldn't take it anymore and finally gave up.

I was ready for the impact I was going to make when I fell, when I felt a pair of strong hands catch me halfway there.

"I've finally found you," a familiar voice said. My minds wasn't clearly sure who it belonged to, but I know I've heard it somewhere before.

My eyes, wanting to close so badly, failed to see the face of my savior. All I could remember was that, at that time, my last words were. "Please don't tell Natsume."

HOTARU: I think you should change the theme of this story to Romance/Drama. 'Cause I'm definitely seeing drama from here.

FAYE: (Typing fast.)

HOTARU: What the heck are you typing anyway?

FAYE: I'm publishing this one-shot called "Through Nobara's Eyes", which tells the story about Natsume and Nobara.

SUMIRE: How come you've never written a prequel about me!

PLEASE READ A RELATED ONE-SHOT I MADE TO TELL ABOUT NATSUME AND NOBARA'S PAST. OH, AND YEAH, REVIEW!